In The Shadow Of War
by TheNotoriousDorito
Summary: Enter the world of Isaac. A fourteen year old Pokemon trainer alone in the chaotic world in which his homeland of Hoenn has been invaded, and all but conquered by a sadistic Kanto-Johto regime. Follow Isaac as he travels with his lone pokemon, Poochyena, looking to find some place safe, something to hold onto, something to call home.
1. Cold

**In The Shadow Of War - Chapter 1 - Cold**

It was winter. A boy trudged along in the blistering cold, knee-deep in snow. The icy wind was turning his skin blue.

"I have to find shelter," he thought to himself, "or I'll freeze."

His partner, Poochyena, was to weak to carry on by itself, so the boy carried him.

Ahead the boy noticed a small shed, half buried by the blizzard. Luckily, it seemed abandoned. So he made his way over to it, and began to dig snow away from the door.

Hands already numb from the cold, he risked frostbite pushing his arms into the snowdrift against the building. After several minutes of intensely painful digging, the boy was able to pull open the door just wide enough to squeeze himself and his pokemon inside.

He collapsed into the corner, pulled a rotten blanket out of his pack, and laid it over his beloved Poochyena. Shivering in the dark of the shed, he tried to sleep.

_His dream was the same dream he's had every night for the last eight months. His mother, baking a Lum Berry Pie, Pidgeys chirping outside, and his best friend sprawled out on the sofa watching a football game_.

"_Isaac, pie's done!" His mom sang._

_"Yo, Danny, food." He told his friend._

_"Thanks for the pie, Ms. Abraham." Danny said._

_Isaac's first bite was interrupted by a rattling of the whole house. Then an odd noise. He stood and walked to the window. In the sky were airplanes. Hundreds of them! Like nothing he'd ever seen. _

_The brightest light he'd ever witnessed appeared on the horizon. A cloud shaped like a mushroom was visible rising from behind Mount Pyre. _

_He turned on his Pokegear and tuned the Radio._

_"...stay indoors! I repeat. All citizens lock your doors and stay inside!" Cackled over the radio, "We are under attack by unknown forces, do not leave your homes, the HDF has been mobil-"_

He awakened at a thump. Adrenaline pumped through his veins. He sensed danger. He reached for his M-16, and approached a small hole in the wall, in an attempt to see what's outside.

What he saw got his heart pumping harder than before. A group of soldiers, escorted by a tank, forcing a contingent of POWs to march barefoot over the frozen landscape. A trail of bloody footprints followed them.

Having not been noticed, he returned to his sleeping pokemon. Poochyena had been sick for weeks. It's getting better, but was still weak. Isaac grabbed the last can of beans from the bag and placed them on the floor.

He cut a strip off of the roll of cloth he kept in his bag, doused it in lighter fluid, and started a fire.

Some scrap pieces of wood in the shed provided enough fuel for a small fire. He warmed the beans over the fire, and awakened his partner to eat.


	2. Hunger

**In The Shadow Of War - Chapter 2 - Hunger**

Another day has passed, and the hunger is starting to make itself present again. The fire is in it's final embers, and no real fuel is left in the shed.

Isaac's body ached from the cold and uneasy sleep. He got himself up and looked out the hole again. The sun was on the horizon, and the snow had stopped falling. It was quiet as well, so he started gather what remained of his possessions. The spoon, his lighter, and his rifle. He left Poochyena wrapped in the blanket, and put the sick pokemon in his bag with its head poking out.

Isaac put on his boots, which had been drying by the fire, picked up his bag and rifle, and exited the shed.

The sun reflected brightly off the snow, and Isaac squinted, trying to make out possible threats in the distance. He took to the forest, as he knew roads were too dangerous for those in their conditions.

The beauty of the snow-covered evergreens contrasted the violent conflict being waged around them. Pokemon unaffected by the human struggle still scampered about their lives, oblivious to the tragedy of their home region.

Behind him, Isaac could hear a soft whimper.

"It's ok, buddy. I'll find us something to eat," he reassured his friend, "I promise."

It was an empty promise. In reality, Isaac had no idea where he'd find their next meal. Cities were overrun, people were protective of what little supplies they did have, and he refused to kill a Pokemon for food. That, he thought, was the lowest thing a person could do.

Tired, Isaac sat down at the base of a tree to rest. From his pocket he pulled several pieces of paper. A ratty, torn town map showed that they were a bit over four miles from Fortree City. The last he had heard, Fortree was still free, thanks to local guerrillas who used the landscape to their advantage in protecting their home, and HDF forces had stationed a garrison there to support them.

He put the map away and looked at another of the papers. This one a photo of a girl he had once been close to, but has lost any contact with since the Blast. He had traveled to her home in Lilycove, but it had been burned to the ground. A solitary tear rolled down his cheek.

"She's out there somewhere, I know she is." He said to his Poochyena, who looked up at him. "Hey," he added, "when we get to Fortree, I bet there will be other Pokemon at the Pokemon Center, maybe a friend for you to play with."

Poochyena looked happy.

Issac packed the map, the picture, and an envelope marked KJAF CLASSIFIED back into his pocket and continued on toward the city.

After twenty minutes of walking, he spotted a small campsite in a clearing ahead. Cautious, he slowly made his way to a bush near the tent. There, he put down his bag and readied his rifle.

He first investigated the fire pit. Cold, and burnt all the way down. This fire had been left alone for at least a few days. Believing this was a sign that the occupant must have left, he walked over to the tent and opened it.

The smell was horrendous. Flies swarmed the carcass of an elderly man, still clutching a fork and a cold, half-eaten bowl of some kind if chili. Isaac searched the tent for any other food, but came up empty. All he found was some dirty rags, a book, and a half-empty bottle of whiskey.

He looked back at the body, at the bowl, and felt queasy. But they were hungry, and that chili probably wouldn't kill them. He pried the old mans fingers off the bowl, and took it out of his hands. He placed the bowl down, and dragged the corpse out of the tent. He buried it in snow just outside the camp, picked up Poochyena and his bag, and took them to the tent.

He started another fire outside, and warmed up the chili to put something in the two of their stomachs. He brought it in, fed his pokemon, and then himself. Night fell quickly, and they slept almost comfortably for the night.


	3. Savages

**In The Shadow Of War - Chapter 3 - Savage**

_"...stay indoors! I repeat. All citizens lock your doors and stay inside!" Cackled over the radio, "We are under attack by unknown forces, do not leave your homes, the HDF has been mobil-"_

Again. The dream.

_"-ized. Reports of widespread fires have been reported in Rustboro and Slateport. The Hoenn Defense Force base at Dewford has been completely annihilated. All citizens-"_

_He turned off the PokeGear. He couldn't listen to anymore. If they were in Slateport, how long until they were in Lilycove? Isaac shuddered at the thought._

_Danny, with a panic in his voice, said "We need to get out of here, take to the forest! It's not safe here!"_

_Isaac's mom protested. "We are NOT living in the Forest! The HDF will protect us here, in the city. It's our safest bet." She seemed disgusted by the thought of leaving her cozy little home and her splendid little kitchen. "We are staying." She assured the boys._

There was a rustling and faint whispers outside the tent. Isaac bolted awake. He could hear men getting closer and closer to where he and Poochyena lay. Poochyena heard them too, and began to growl.

The trainer tried to shush his pokemon, but the dog was stubborn and the voices drew nearer. Isaac tried to shove everything in his bag as quick as possible, hoping to make a dash out the back before being discovered.

But luck was not on his side. I knife soon pierced the tent, cutting a doorway in. When the flap was pulled back, Isaac froze. Looking at him was a large, grizzled man who smelled distinctly like sauerkraut. The man smiled a dirty smile at him.

"Where do you think you're going?" The man asked, brandishing a revolver. "Come on out, we're not going to hurt ya."

"Much," added one of his companions, a slim, greasy fellow with eyes like a rat.

The third member of this group of marauders was female. A stoic, blond woman armed with a bolt-action rifle and a telescopic sight. She stood ready, but seemed a bit uneasy about the men's actions.

"Poochy, Bite!" shouted Isaac. The pokemon leaped forward and clamped its jaws onto the first man's face. He screamed in pain, he stood and tried to shake of the small dog, only tearing his flesh worse. Rateyes tried to help remove Poochyena from the face of the brute.

The commotion allowed Isaac time to grab his rifle and level it at the men.

"Poochyena, come back!" he shouted. It released the mans face and ran back to its trainer as fast as its sick body could take it. It almost collapsed from exhaustion.

The men looked shocked. This boy was clever, they thought. But the boy was at a standoff with the woman, who's rifle was aimed at his head. The men recognized they had the upper hand, and Rateyes drew a meat cleaver from a handmade holster on his belt and started to approach him.

"Now let's put that little piece down," he said.

Isaac eased the rifle to the ground. Poochyena looked at his trainer fearfully, and seemed to recognize the gravity of the situation.

"That's it, now, come here." He ordered.

Shaking in the cold, Isaac trudged forward, wary of the rifle trained at him by the woman. Rateyes grabbed Isaac's wrists and tied them tight behind his back. He leaned in very close and whispered into his ear.

"This is going to be a lot more fun for us, than it will be for you" and he snickered.

The larger man pulled out a burlap sack, scooped up Poochyena, who fought back as hard as his weak body would allow (which wasn't much), and slung the bag over his shoulder.

"Now move!" Rateyes barked. And Isaac began to march. Little did he know, this was only the beginning.


End file.
